Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to forecourt controllers for gas stations and the like.
Description of the Related Art
This section introduces aspects that may help facilitate a better understanding of the invention. Accordingly, the statements of this section are to be read in this light and are not to be understood as admissions about what is prior art or what is not prior art.
In retail stores that sell fuel (including, but not limited to, gas stations, truck stops, convenience stores, big-box retailers, military base exchanges), the forecourt is located outside of the store's structure and includes some or all of the following equipment:                AFDs (automated fuel dispensers);        Payment terminals, either stand-alone or integrated into the AFDs, each of which accepts payments and provides a display, a keypad, and a printer;        Fuel tanks, ATGs (automated tank gauges), and ATG controllers;        Car washes and car wash controllers;        RFID (radio frequency identification) antennae and RFID controllers;        Electronic price signs and price sign controllers; and        Leak detection systems.        
Residing inside the store are systems providing POS (Point of Sale), BO (Back Office), EPS (Electronic Payment Services), and other business functions. Some or all of those “inside” systems need to communicate with the “outside” forecourt devices. This communication is typically performed via a forecourt controller (FCC).
The FCC is a computer system running on its own hardware, connected to the store's LAN (local area network), communicating via the TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) protocol with the in-store systems, and using legacy serial communications (e.g., RS-232, RS-485, current loop, and/or other proprietary interfaces) to communicate with the forecourt devices. As the next generation of forecourt devices evolves, some of those legacy serial interfaces are being replaced by TCP/IP.
Forecourt controllers originated out of a need to control fuel dispensers from inside the gas station. The first FCCs were developed by the same companies that manufactured fuel dispensers. Over time, other companies entered the marketplace.
First-generation FCCs allowed fuel dispensers to be authorized, prices to be changed, and transactional data to be collected from the dispenser and accessed inside the store. An RS232 or some other serial communication interface connected the FCC to the POS.
Second-generation FCCs added communication to devices such as outside payment terminals and ATG controllers. Integrating outside payment terminals allowed customers to complete their fuel transaction (provide payment, dispense fuel, and print receipt) without going into the store. Integrating ATG controllers allowed store managers to monitor tank inventory without manually accessing the fuel tank, the ATG, or the ATG controller.
Third-generation FCCs integrated EPS functions, making the FCC the gateway to payment processors. Further, the interface between the business processes inside the store and the FCC migrated from serial to TCP/IP.
FCCs typically require some proprietary hardware, because the custom serial interfaces presented by forecourt devices are not supported in COTS (Consumer Off-The-Shelf) hardware. While early FCCs used completely proprietary software (operating system and applications), modern systems often combine an OS (operating system) such as a Linux OS or an Embedded Windows OS with custom applications.